Stick to your stack

In the book, the pragmatic programmer, there is a section where the author compares a programmer to a craftsman.

The craftsman or artisan mindset is a great way of thinking about our work. An artisan stands by her choices and work just like we must. Every artisan needs her favorite tools to do their finest work, as we programmers need our favorite programming languages, our editors and our stack.

We programmers are fickle creatures and our whole industry is always gawking at another next best thing which is supposed to solve every programmer itch. Every day, we have ten new frameworks (and not enough good libraries).

This trend makes us question our own choices so much that if we don't take up anything new in a few months, it feels like we are getting left behind.

Don't get me wrong, we need to stay on top of the current technology.

But it's pointless to try and catch up to every new popular thing.

What's more important is, using a stack that you know well, will not let you forgive yourself when you cut corners or make bad structure choices. By allowing us to try new things every time, we start to think that a project is more about learning and less about perfection. And, we let ourselves off the hook and not hold us accountable for the quality of the project.

I know your usual stack may feel boring and stale, the new thing surely looks very fun.

It's good to have fun and learn. There’s always a small chance that a new technology is better for you and for the things you are making right now. But you should know the tradeoffs.

Always staring at documentation for the new thing you are trying out of FOMO is just not productive.